Data Culminating: Question: Do the older or the younger midfield soccer players in the Barclays Premier League, in England, get more points than the other over the duration of two seasons, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010?
Variables: · Independant – Players themselves, how well they perform (in this case based on their age) contributes to the points they earn · Dependant – points which depend on how well the player does, without the player there is no points · Ages of the players – can vary as they are not controlled, will have five players in each age group, range of 5 years younger than 25 years of age so that the players are actually involved in first team play, and 25 and up for the older players · Goals and assists – two points per 1 goal, while one point per 1 assist. The point system will be constant and unchanged · Same position – all players play the same midfield position · Teams – some are on same team, but shouldn’t make a difference
Hypothesis: I believe that the older soccer players (above 25 years of age) will have more points over the course of two seasons. This is because of their experience in the game that they have developed over the course of many years previous to the seasons I am looking at. Also, some of the older players could have had the possibility of playing in another league or with different managers to attain an overall better set of skills. Lastly, even though the older players may not have the physical abilities (such as stamina, agility and/or speed) to match their counterparts, their knowledge of the game can reduce the amounts of physical abilities they need to use in order to be more successful.
Background Info: Why I chose this topic: I chose this topic because I’m very interested in soccer in both aspects of playing and watching. I chose the Barclay’s Premier League as it is one of my favourite leagues to watch and it is one of the highest ranked leagues in soccer. This means that I would be able to acquire ample amounts of information about the highest ranked players in the game, and the league’s website is very accurate in providing up to date stats about each and every player. I chose players from the midfield position as it is not only the position I play, but it is a position that allows the player to not only set up goals, but score them as well. Finally, I chose to distinguish between the 2 age groups of older vs. younger because I was interested to see whether or not the older players could still compete with the upcoming youths. Figure 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgNWoVIsSt4&feature=related
Corelation is moderately positive. This is because the stats show that as the player gets older they will gain more experience and begin to enter their prime. An example of this would be Frank Lampard. In the 2008/2009 season, he was in middle of the pack with his goals and assists.But, in 2009/2010 he scored 22 goals and had 17 assists showing that he could have possibly been in his performing at his best, and was one the top scorers that year. While Ryan Giggs was on the other end of the stick. He is older and should be viewed as more experienced, but skill will only take you so far until your body can't keep up with the youth. Although he did improve from the prveious year (2008/09) he isn't making any rapid improvements because he has possibly reached his peak and is starting to decline.
2009/10 Season
OLDER PLAYERS (more than 25)
YOUNG PLAYERS (less than 25)
Players
Frank Lampard, 32
Ryan Giggs, 37
Shaun-Wright Phillips, 29
Florent Malouda, 30
Morten Gamst Pedersen, 29
Luis Nani, 24
Fransesc Fabregas, 23
James Milner, 24
Ashley Young, 25
Neves Denilson, 22
Goals
22
5
4
12
3
3
15
1
5
4
Assists
17
11
8
9
7
10
15
12
10
2
Total Points
61
21
16
33
13
16
45
14
20
10
2008/09 Season
OLDER PLAYERS (older than 25)
YOUNGER PLAYERS (younger than 25)
Player’s Name, Age
Frank Lampard, 32
Ryan Giggs, 37
Shaun-Wright Phillips, 29
Florent Malouda, 30
Morten Gamst Pedersen, 29
Luis Nani, 24
Fransesc Fabregas, 23
James Milner, 24
Ashley Young, 25
Neves Denilson, 22
Goals
12
2
5
6
1
1
3
3
8
3
Assists
10
8
6
7
8
4
10
9
9
7
Total Points
34
12
16
19
10
6
16
15
25
13
One-Variable Analysis: I just took a few of the players that I chose and took a look at how many official games they have played during their career in the Barclays Premier League, and it is quite obvious that the older players would have alot more games on the younger players. This one-variable analysis helps to show how the older players would have more experience.
Amount of Official games played in the Barclays Premier league per player
Frank Lampard
Ryan Giggs
Shaun-Wright Phillips
Luis Nani
Fransesc Fabregas
James Milner
Games Played
467
548
253
62
187
242
Bias/Sampling: Sampling Bias: Could have been a problem with my sampling method itself. Other than picking players in the midfield position, I did it at random and although all the players selected are good, they are not of equal calibre. To correct this I could have gotten more in depth with my research and found out what each player was rated so that I could pick out more of an even match between the two age groups. Stratified Sample: This topic would be an example of a stratified sample, as I picked a group of soccer players who all shared the same positions. Also, I chose two age groups in which the players in it would be related to and represent the others of their age group. Cluster Sample: I also think that my sampling consisted of a cluster sample. This is because I chose from a group of many midfielders, and broke them down into smaller groups so that they could represent their age categories/intervals that I chose without having to do to many calculations.
Conclusion: As the stats show, it is clear that over the course of two seasons the older players were able to accumulate more points. This proves my hypothesis that the older players, although their physical abilities may not be as strong as the younger, were able to obtain more points. Even though my sampling choices had their errors which needed corrections, I still think that if the corrections were made and the tests done again, the older players would still end up with more points.
Question:
Do the older or the younger midfield soccer players in the Barclays Premier League, in England, get more points than the other over the duration of two seasons, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010?
Variables:
· Independant – Players themselves, how well they perform (in this case based on their age) contributes to the points they earn
· Dependant – points which depend on how well the player does, without the player there is no points
· Ages of the players – can vary as they are not controlled, will have five players in each age group, range of 5 years younger than 25 years of age so that the players are actually involved in first team play, and 25 and up for the older players
· Goals and assists – two points per 1 goal, while one point per 1 assist. The point system will be constant and unchanged
· Same position – all players play the same midfield position
· Teams – some are on same team, but shouldn’t make a difference
Hypothesis:
I believe that the older soccer players (above 25 years of age) will have more points over the course of two seasons. This is because of their experience in the game that they have developed over the course of many years previous to the seasons I am looking at. Also, some of the older players could have had the possibility of playing in another league or with different managers to attain an overall better set of skills. Lastly, even though the older players may not have the physical abilities (such as stamina, agility and/or speed) to match their counterparts, their knowledge of the game can reduce the amounts of physical abilities they need to use in order to be more successful.
Background Info:
Why I chose this topic:
I chose this topic because I’m very interested in soccer in both aspects of playing and watching. I chose the Barclay’s Premier League as it is one of my favourite leagues to watch and it is one of the highest ranked leagues in soccer. This means that I would be able to acquire ample amounts of information about the highest ranked players in the game, and the league’s website is very accurate in providing up to date stats about each and every player. I chose players from the midfield position as it is not only the position I play, but it is a position that allows the player to not only set up goals, but score them as well. Finally, I chose to distinguish between the 2 age groups of older vs. younger because I was interested to see whether or not the older players could still compete with the upcoming youths.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgNWoVIsSt4&feature=related
Corelation is moderately positive. This is because the stats show that as the player gets older they will gain more experience and begin to enter their prime. An example of this would be Frank Lampard. In the 2008/2009 season, he was in middle of the pack with his goals and assists.But, in 2009/2010 he scored 22 goals and had 17 assists showing that he could have possibly been in his performing at his best, and was one the top scorers that year. While Ryan Giggs was on the other end of the stick. He is older and should be viewed as more experienced, but skill will only take you so far until your body can't keep up with the youth. Although he did improve from the prveious year (2008/09) he isn't making any rapid improvements because he has possibly reached his peak and is starting to decline.
Season
(more than 25)
(less than 25)
30
29
25
22
Season
OLDER PLAYERS
(older than 25)
YOUNGER PLAYERS
(younger than 25)
Age
30
29
25
22
One-Variable Analysis:
I just took a few of the players that I chose and took a look at how many official games they have played during their career in the Barclays Premier League, and it is quite obvious that the older players would have alot more games on the younger players. This one-variable analysis helps to show how the older players would have more experience.
Amount of Official games played in the Barclays Premier league per player
Bias/Sampling:
Sampling Bias: Could have been a problem with my sampling method itself. Other than picking players in the midfield position, I did it at random and although all the players selected are good, they are not of equal calibre. To correct this I could have gotten more in depth with my research and found out what each player was rated so that I could pick out more of an even match between the two age groups.
Stratified Sample: This topic would be an example of a stratified sample, as I picked a group of soccer players who all shared the same positions. Also, I chose two age groups in which the players in it would be related to and represent the others of their age group.
Cluster Sample: I also think that my sampling consisted of a cluster sample. This is because I chose from a group of many midfielders, and broke them down into smaller groups so that they could represent their age categories/intervals that I chose without having to do to many calculations.
Conclusion:
As the stats show, it is clear that over the course of two seasons the older players were able to accumulate more points. This proves my hypothesis that the older players, although their physical abilities may not be as strong as the younger, were able to obtain more points. Even though my sampling choices had their errors which needed corrections, I still think that if the corrections were made and the tests done again, the older players would still end up with more points.
Sources:
Barclays Premier League. (2011, January 11). Statistics. In Statistics | Official Site of the Premier League. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics
Figure 1- http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.soccer-training-guide.com/images/playing-fullback.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.soccer-training-guide.com/playing-fullback.html&usg=__SMicVZu8a0SOsVgRibLRgQqu9Eg=&h=300&w=416&sz=38&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=v02a4B2L4QDYJM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=214&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsoccer%2Bpositions%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bfield%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D687%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=445&vpy=123&dur=608&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=214&ty=155&ei=PZkuTeDeNMT7lwekwq2-CQ&oei=PZkuTeDeNMT7lwekwq2-CQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgNWoVIsSt4&feature=related